HATE BILL MANIPULATORS SHOULD COME CLEAN
By Rev. Ted Pike
1 Oct 07
Recently, I have explained how the evidence indicates
that new right leaders and Republican Senators conspired to help
the hate bill pass. Except for Orrin Hatch, Senators remained silent
for days on the floor of the Senate, shunning many opportunities
to speak out against the hate bill. At www.truthtellers.org I
document how for nearly a week prior to hate bill passage, no major
new right watchdog group effectively motivated its supporters to
defeat the hate bill through calls to Senators. 1
Yet some could ask: “So what if the hate bill passed? It
was for a good cause, to give President Bush the opportunity to veto
it and thus bolster his prestige and that of Republicans in their
efforts to thwart the evil Democrats. Why weaken peoples’ confidence
in new right leadership just when we all need to pull together against
hate crimes legislation?”
I must speak out because no movement, masking lies and deception,
can overcome evil as diabolical as hate laws. Often, virtually alone,
our National Prayer Network was instrumental in defeating the hate
bill. In 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 defeat of the hate bill came
not because of clever strategies and numbers but because God fought
for America , causing confusion in the hate bill ranks. This past
week, however, Christian/conservative leaders resorted to a “brilliant” scheme
that required doing the opposite of what they had promised their
supporters. As a result, they went into folly, helping freedom’s
enemies. In contrast, the pro-hate bill forces had perfect clarity
and vigor.
With the defense authorization bill two months overdue, President
Bush is under extreme pressure not to honor his August 4 promise
to send the arms bill and the attached hate crimes bill back to the
Senate. Debate and deliberations over removal of the hate bill could
occupy weeks, seriously delaying vital supplies to our troops in
Iraq . Be assured that pro-hate bill, anti-war Democrats will delay
removal of the hate crimes amendment as long as possible.
Leaders of the new right allowed the hate bill to pass, confident
Bush would honor his word. What if he doesn’t? What if he can’t,
for compelling reasons of national security? America will become
a hate crimes bureaucracy like Canada ’s, and there will be
nothing we can do to stop it.
If the President does veto the hate bill, lovers of freedom must
gear up to defeat it in 2009. To do that, hearts and hands
must be clean, especially those of our leaders. Scripture says, “If
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Psalm
66:18) For new right leaders to encourage calls and petitions against
the hate bill and at the same time subvert efforts of their supporters
by depriving them of vital alerts just when such calls to action
would almost certainly lead to victory is deceitful, manipulative
and just plain wrong. It is to speak and act out a lie.
New right leaders must repent to the American people whom they
have betrayed. Regardless of the political consequences, even if
it shakes the White House, these leaders must come clean. Scripture
says that unless we confess and forsake our sins, God will not help
us. In ancient Israel , the Hebrews were routed and collectively
punished in military conflict because one man, Achan, and his family,
violated God’s command by burying forbidden Canaanite booty
under a rug in his tent. How much more will we be weakened in the
hate bill fight if virtually all major new right leaders attempt
to sweep this travesty under their rug!
Yes, we need every Christian/conservative group and leader in the
dark days of liberalism ahead. By requiring leaders to confess, I
do not attempt to weaken them or their authority. Telling the whole
truth now will only ultimately empower them. One of the greatest
biblical heroes, David, sinned grievously, committing both adultery
and murder. Yet when he repented, he found immediate forgiveness
and even restoration by God.
When we sin and don’t confess, we must sin even more to cover
up. We become wicked, maligning and persecuting those who call our
sins to remembrance. Scripture says, “He who covers his sins
shall not prosper.” (Proverbs 28:43) The time for repentance
on the part of religious right leaders from Colorado Springs to Congress
is sooner, not later.
At stake is the reputation of Christ and His cross to produce a
level of godliness and morality which cannot be achieved without
Him. If we allow Bill Clinton to deceive the American people on the
stand, mocking God, his oath of office and his wedding vows, and
we also allow Christian/conservative leaders to mislead their followers,
manipulating their energies and idealism, then we are saying there
is no difference between the world and the church. Whether under
a Capitol dome or a steeple, it's all power politics.
Also, if Christian leaders don’t repent, how can they expect
repentance of the laity? If repentance is not required of one who
has done wrong, then the cross of Christ is mocked; He came and died
without purpose or effect upon us.
This confirms the opinion of the world that not only do hypocrites
infest the pulpits and pews of Christendom but that Christianity
itself is a farce, lacking real power to change our motives and actions.
These leaders must demonstrate now through repentance and renewed
faith that there is a difference between them and Clinton -- that
Christ does empower those who put their trust in Him, those who practice
self-denial, not self-preservation.
Many of these leaders originally mixed religion with politics as
a high moral calling, a ministry to bring revival and restoration
to America . Yet, clearly, they have become corrupted by the system
and by their own power. It is imperative now that they believe and
act in accordance with what they have always taught -- that God and
His truth are the only real basis of goodness and power, both spiritual
and political.
These leaders should remember how in scandals of the past (Nixon,
Clinton , Bakker, Swaggart, etc.) lying and delay only made the consequences
much, much worse. The fact that new right leaders failed to give
warning about the hate bill crisis in the days preceding its passage
cannot be denied. It is chronicled in four daily e-alerts last week,
written at the height of the hate bill crisis (www.truthtellers.org).
The world is watching to see what Christianity really means. If
these leaders of Christian “watchdog” organizations do
not come clean, they are no longer those who defend Christianity,
but those who destroy it.
Endnote:
1. Earlier in September, Dr. James Dobson on his broadcast strongly
influenced the forces of the religious right to believe that ENDA
was the most dangerous type of hate crimes legislation and that the
President was eminently worthy of our trust to veto the hate bill. In
a subsequent poll of 30 new right leaders by insider Guy Adams, he
found that a third had given up all organized opposition to the hate
bill, and most of the remainder agreed with Dobson that the President
would destroy it. On September 11 the Department of Defense
authorization bill was introduced, and on September 14 Kennedy tried
to unite the hate bill to it as a unanimous consent agreement without
allowing debate. By September 19 and 20, Focus on the
Family, Traditional Values Coalition, Family Research Council, and
Concerned Women for America finally sounded internet warnings against
the hate bill. Yet, they were devoid of any argumentation that
the people should bear responsibility to defeat the hate bill, not
the President. Focus on the Family did deliver a petition of more
than 100,000 names protesting the hate bill. Yet, NPN polls showed
relatively little or no phoning went into the Senate right up until
the hate bill passed. This is in sharp contrast to the three million
plus calls these organizations could have generated during this crisis
period. Finally, on September 26, on the afternoon before the hate
bill passed, Focus on the Family, Traditional Values Coalition, and
Family Research Council sounded the alarm. Yet such warning was not
effective since Senate offices would soon be closing, and by 10 a.m.
EST , Thursday morning, Senators were already on the floor of the
Senate to debate and vote on the hate bill.
The Christian/conservative organizations receiving my emergency
alerts in the days before hate bill passage, yet giving no timely
or effective warning of imminent hate bill passage include Focus
on the Family, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America,
American Family Association, Faith2Action, and Christian Values Coalition.
While not a Christian organization, WorldNetDaily was also silent.
-----------------------------------------------------
EMERGENCY CALL FOR PRAYER AND ACTION!!
New right leaders put us and freedom utterly at the mercy of the
President. Yet, God has promised to never fail us if we put all our
trust in Him. America must now turn to God as never before, calling
to Him in repentance, fasting and prayer.
Also, remember ENDA, “The Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” H.R.
2015, will soon be up for a vote in the House. This workplace hate
crimes bill would make it a federal offense to discriminate against
homosexuals in renting, hiring or firing, even in “non-spiritual” areas
of churches. Call your House member immediately in protest, toll
free 1-877-851-6437 or toll 1-202-224-3131.
Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog organization.
Let the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith teach you how they
have saddled 45 states with hate laws capable of persecuting Christians: http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/intro.asp.
Learn how ADL took away free speech in Canada and wants to steal
it now in the U.S. Congress. Watch Rev. Ted Pike's Hate
Laws: Making Criminals of Christians at video.google.com. Purchase
this gripping documentary to show at church. Order online at www.truthtellers.org for
$24.90, DVD or VHS, by calling 503-853-3688, or at the address below.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Ted Pike on this
topic. Call (503) 631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas,
OR 97015
